1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless data collecting system which wirelessly collects operation data on a traveling apparatus such as a self-traveling work machine including a construction machine and an agricultural machine, and a portable construction machine such as a generator and a compressor from a wireless terminal installed on the traveling apparatus to a base station apparatus, and the base station apparatus of the system, and the wireless terminal of the system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, for managing maintenance and the like of a movable apparatus (referred to as a traveling apparatus hereafter) such as a self-traveling work machine including a construction machine and an agricultural machine, and a portable construction machine such as a generator and a compressor, it is desired to provide a wireless data collecting system for collecting their operation data (such as on/off of the engine, the existence of the fuel, the hydraulic pressure, and the coolant temperature) at a predetermined base station through wireless communication.
Conventionally, as this type of wireless data collecting system, there is one which uses public communication network such as satellite communication or cellular phone communication to transmit operation data memorized in a traveling apparatus to a remote base station apparatus (or a server computer) and the like at a predetermined timing (such as 2 a.m. every day). Also, in this type of wireless data collecting system, a GPS is mounted on a wireless terminal provided on a traveling apparatus for confirming the location information of the traveling apparatus.
On the other hand, since the traveling apparatus such as a construction machine is often rented, it has been desired to automate delivery/storage management of the traveling apparatus (managing storage into a predetermined warehouse or a storage yard and delivery from the warehouse or the like, and managing the operation time for charging).
However, in the conventional wireless data collecting system described above, since a communication cost for the satellite communication or the cellular phone communication is charged each time the traveling apparatus communicates respectively, and additionally, the communication cost for using the mobile communication network is higher than that for the stationary (wired) communication network, there is such a problem that it is often the case that the operation cost does not meet the merit of introducing the system. Especially, the time series data and the like required for the maintenance management of the traveling apparatus is large in data quantity, there is such a problem that the problem of the communication cost becomes more remarkable.
Also, in the conventional data collecting system, it is conceivable to automate the delivery/storage of the traveling apparatus based on the position information from the GPS, map information, and the like. However, since there are such various difficult problems that the entrance and departure of a traveling apparatus into and from a relatively narrow area such as a warehouse should be surely detected by GPS, that a traveling apparatus traveling in a neighborhood of the warehouse or the like by chance should be distinguished from a traveling apparatus which is being stored, for example, and so on, it is difficult to automate the storage/delivery management of the traveling apparatus by simply applying the conventional data collecting system